Nicolas Cage Open to Returning to 'Popcorn' Films and TV

Beloved actor Nicolas Cage is open to returning to "popcorn" films and television but said he is more interested in personal stories.

Speaking to The New Yorker, Cage said he's most interested in shooting a film that "affects people" and is about the human psyche. "I want to see people going through their hardships, their celebrations and relate to it, or find something to it that makes me feel less lonely in some way," he added.

"I'm not interested in, you know, a $100 million science fiction. I do love science fiction, but I'm not necessarily going to the movie for the spectacle."

That doesn't mean I wouldn't do more adventure films, or I wouldn't do something that's more popcorn.

Despite this, Cage made clear he wouldn't rule out bigger blockbuster films or TV shows, as evidenced by his upcoming role as Spider-Man Noir in the Into the Spider-Verse spin-off series for Prime Video.

"That doesn't mean I wouldn't do more adventure films, or I wouldn't do something that's more popcorn," Cage said. "I'm considering it right now as we speak. But the movies that made me want to be a film actor are movies like Elia Kazan's or Raging Bull — movies that were about people who were contending with the issues of life."

Cage has had an incredibly diverse acting career, appearing in myriad roles from wild and wacky to contemplative and considered. His most recent "popcorn" films are perhaps 2011's Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and 2010's Kick-Ass, though Cage has also starred in the aforementioned animated Spider-Man film and even the DC cartoon Teen Titans GO! To the Movies.

His comments alluding to potentially appearing in several more projects likely comes as good news to concerned fans though, as Cage said in December 2023 that he may only have "three or four movies left" in him.

Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.